Night & Death
by xXBalorBabeXx
Summary: When she lays her head down to sleep, she usually hopes to find peace. It's not always easy to but she's glad she has him to keep her from drowning in her nightmares. (Co-written with GirlGoneGamer)
1. Understanding Her Better

_**A/N: Yukie is GirlGoneGamer's character. Also, this chapter is graphic in nature.**_

 _The hotel hallway was swarmed with people as Amanda watched, confused as to why she was suddenly stood up… and then it hit her._

' _That's Eddie's room that they're crowded by!' Amanda thought moments before seeing her 15 year old self make her way through the crowd and try to run into Eddie's room but was grabbed and pulled back by Chris._

" _No… no, they have to help him, they have to!" The younger Amanda shouted as tears streamed down her face, the older one helpless to reach out and comfort her younger counterpart._

" _He was already blue and grey when Chavo found him… I'm sorry, Little One." Chris responded, holding the sobbing girl in his arms._

' _Why am I seeing this again?! It hurt too much the first time!' The 25 year old thought before everything suddenly changed._

 _Amanda was in the Benoit house, the weight room of it… and saw Chris, who was trying to hide how he was feeling from the world… the machine was all set._

 _All set to snap his neck._

" _Chris, please don't…" Amanda pleaded with tears in her eyes although it was of no use._

 _Chris sat on the floor, putting the cord around his neck… and Amanda heard his last words._

" _I love you, Little One. I'm so sorry, my little girl."_

 _He put the cord around his neck and let the weights fall… and his eyes closed forever…_

Amanda's eyes snapped open, the brunette shaking in pure terror even as Finn pulled her closer to him… his blue eyes looked right into her hazel ones, seeing that she was too terrified to talk, let alone scream.

"It's okay… it was just a bad dream, Mandy, you're okay." Finn whispered as he noticed how pale she looked.

Amanda looked around the room cautiously… but Yukie, having told her to shut up last time she screamed in terror, wasn't crashing with them tonight.

Finn helped Amanda sit up and handed her his pillow… and Amanda put it to her face and screamed into it for a full three minutes before she handed the pillow back to Finn, who helped her lie back down and rubbed his left hand up and down her back after she was curled up against him.

"That's better… it's healthy to scream after something terrifying happens." Finn responded quietly, lightly rubbing the right side of Amanda's head with his left hand as his right arm remained wrapped around her back.

He knew that she had lost most of her loved ones while she was sleeping… and that she subconsciously associated nighttime with death.

Right now, Finn was glad that Yukie wasn't in the room with them… the attempts at fixing Yukie's and Amanda's damaged friendship hadn't gone so well but they kept trying.

Until last week's nightmare… in the aftermath of it, Finn had told Yukie off and told her to, as he had put it _"If you're not gonna show any human decency to your childhood friend and try to calm her down, then make other room arrangements from this point on!"_.

Yukie hadn't liked that, it was clear from the look in her eyes… but she had complied and left with her things.

"It got really bad this time, didn't it?" Finn asked in a gentle tone after getting Amanda to look at him.

"I was… I found myself back in that hallway. Watching it all unfold… then I found myself in that house…" Amanda responded, Finn knowing which house. "To this day, I still don't know why… I know one thing though, it took too much out of him, losing someone who was in every way that counted, his family. And being helpless to stop it." She replied as Finn lightly brushed Amanda's tears away.

"Helpless is how you and Chris felt when Eddie was taken from you two and everyone so suddenly… and then you all losing Chris and his wife and son. No one should ever have to go through that kind of hell, Mandy. But you don't ever had to hold it back anymore, not from me." Finn responded quietly, kissing Amanda on the top of her head as he absentmindedly trailed the index and middle fingers of his left hand on the palm of hers.

Right where the scar was… and he was the only one she didn't mind touching it.

Letting him touch the scars on her solidified the trust on her part… he was the only one she trusted with them.


	2. Faded Memories

Yukie opened her eyes, seeing Seth sat on the edge of the bed and sitting up.

"Thanks for letting me crash here. Murphy and Alexa were… well, I won't go into too many details." Yukie replied.

"Fighting, then making up by rough sex? Leighla and I were like that… and then it was me and Zahra who acted that way." Seth responded.

"I can see that." Yukie replied.

"Why didn't you go to Finn and Mandy though? I thought you and Mandy were trying to mend things." Seth replied.

"I… might've told Mandy to stop screaming at night. Finn took exception to that, told me off and kicked me out." Yukie explained, startling Seth. "Don't get what gives him the right to do such a thing. I get he's protective but damn it, he has no right to kick me out of her life."

"What was she screaming for?" Seth questioned.

"She was having this horrible nightmare and I ended up screaming like a crazed killer at them saying 'Shut the fuck up' and all." Yukie explained.

"You two were apart for ten years…" Seth responded.

"Only five of which you've known her for… has she ever explained those scars she has?" Yukie replied.

"Not to me but I know which ones you're talking about, one on the palm of her left hand and the other under her right shoulder blade. Given how aged they look, I'd say she was about 17 when they were inflicted on her. Everyone has their secrets, Yukie. Even ones we guard from the ones closest to us… or most of them." Seth explained, Yukie understanding the implication.

"You think she's told him, been upfront about her past with him." Yukie replied, Seth nodding.

"Mandy trusts him, because he cares about her." Seth explained.

"Yeah, just to get his dick in her with her legs entwined with his." Yukie said, before laying down.

"You think he's a horny bastard too?" Seth responded.

"Yeah, I believe so. Everyone loves young meat." Yukie explained.

At the same time, Baron was waking up… and sat up before swinging his legs to the side of the bed. He put his feet on the floor and stood up to walk to the adjoining door before knocking on it… being next door to them last night, the Lone Wolf had heard the muffled screams.

But he had decided to give Finn and Amanda their privacy last night.

Finn was careful not to disturb Amanda's sleep as he kissed her on her forehead before he stood up, walking to the adjoining door and opening it at the same time Baron opened his.

"Is Mandy okay?" Baron questioned.

"Yeah, she's calmed down. And you weren't the only one who heard the screams, were you?" Finn responded, having heard people in nearby rooms yelling _"Shut up, damn you!"_ but wasn't sure who was yelling.

"Bayley would've broken the damn door down if she was on the same floor… I think it was Alexa yelling at first, then Tyler." Baron explained.

"She had a rotten night herself, doesn't exactly excuse rotten behavior." Finn replied before walking to the bed as Amanda sat up.

"True. And Tyler's just an assclown." Amanda responded as Finn sat down and lightly stroked her hair.

"Yeah, but what about Yukie? Did she help you out?" Baron questioned.

"She hasn't been staying with us for the past week… after Mandy had a nightmare at about 3:30 on Tuesday morning, Yukie yelled at her to shut up. I didn't take kindly to that and told Yukie to make other room arrangements. It's never nice to kick someone out but you just don't treat someone like that when they're downright terrified." Finn responded, his arms around Amanda.

"Sounds almost like her. She could have stayed with me." Baron explained.

"Pal, you get cranky when you're woken up in the middle of the night." Amanda responded, Baron chuckling slightly as he knew it was true.

"Yeah, but I wouldn't mind the extra company in my bed." Baron replied.

It was in the lobby after getting ready that Yukie noticed the scent of salted caramel black tea… and knew who was drinking it before she walked away and over to Seth.

"Let me guess, she's not starting off the day with caffeine." Seth responded as Yukie sat down.

"Yep and she probably had another one of her nightmares again." Yukie explained. "This is why I can't handle her nightmare screams or their closeness with each other." She responded.

"Sleep is supposed to be an escape, Yukie. When it's disrupted, it can throw someone completely off… I'm sure you've had nasty nightmares before." Seth replied.

Yukie nodded before she sipped her coffee.

Amanda had finished eating her breakfast and then finished her tea, her and Finn looking through the script for the SmackDown taping.

"Split personality storyline… we get one more of these and I'm gonna go crazy." Amanda responded, Finn lightly rubbing his left hand up and down her back.

"I know how you feel, Darlin', good thing our storyline hasn't gone into that territory." Finn replied before Baron walked back over… only with Kane following him.

"I was a few rooms down the hall… you feeling any better, kiddo?" Kane responded after sitting down, his right hand on Amanda's left shoulder.

"Somewhat…" Amanda responded.

"We all have horrific nightmares at times, even those who won't admit it…" Kane replied, pausing briefly to give Yukie a warning look when Yukie glared at them… and Yukie turning to Seth after her glare melted. "But the scary part's over, kiddo. You're safe." He responded, lightly kissing Amanda on the top of her head as they hugged.

 _Mama_ by Genesis played through Amanda's earbuds as she and Finn were on their way to the arena, Amanda looking out the passenger side window.

The sky was red, signalling that it would rain soon… and the rain would result in a cold front within the next few hours.

But to Amanda, a red sky in the morning was truly haunting.


End file.
